There are many levels of business, based mostly on size. In your industries food chain, where do you fit in? Are you a small “Mom and Pop,” a “commodity” or a “big” player?
Accepted business wisdom is to select a market you can successfully compete in and set up shop there. Know your market – and your competition. Are you competing with Home Depot or the local hardware store?
Positioning your business against one more established with significantly more resources than your own is to put it mildly – a bad idea. It is usually a waste of your precious time and capital.
While knowing your niche is extremely valuable, be careful not to let it “limit” you. It is easy to get comfortable serving a particular market and see your growth become stagnant because you have failed to plan for it. Expect to grow in stages, and continually plan for growth. A tadpole today will be a big fish tomorrow.
In the global marketplace we live in, it is now more important than ever to continually re-invent your business. A snake continually sheds it’s skin, and so should your business.